Tiny House Appreciation Week: Day 8: Tiny House Blog and Tiny House Talk

A number of tiny house stories seem to go the same way. They start with a person who either through sustainable living desires, downsizing wishes, or economic shortfalls, cruising the Internet just looking for places they can afford or places they could build that wouldn’t break the bank or add further stress on our planet. And like a moth to a flame they find a 200 or 300 sq.ft. house-like structure sitting atop a trailer or in the middle of a prairie or settled on some creekside that before had only existed in poetry and short prose. They run their mouse cursor over the image and read tiny house along with some other jibberish. And something happens. Their mind falls back into a time where children living in a boxcar was feasible and where forts could be fashioned out of little more than quilts and appliance boxes.

Two of those sites that almost daily pull us into the world of miniature societies, adorable dwellings, and humble abodes are Tiny House Blog edited by Kent Griswold and Tiny House Talk edited by Alex Pino.

Kent Griswold

Kent Griswold loves small spaces and has always dreamed of having his own cabin somewhere magical; something similar to the many homes he discovers and shares online. The Tiny House Blog was established in May of 2007 and exists to discover for us the different options available for a person looking to down size into a tiny house or cabin. From log homes, to yurts to modern and and anything in between THB is a sensory adventure for those dreaming of and living in tiny houses.

Tiny House Talk enchants thousands a day. The collection of photos, floor plans, reviews, interviews, and the like – all edited by Alex Pino – is perhaps one of the most resourced sites in the tiny house community. Alex became interested in tiny houses just as he was also discovering how to get out of consumer debt. The year was 2007 and Pino began selling off unwanted and unneeded possessions as well as downsizing into a much smaller apartment. It was also in ’07 that Pino discovered Jay Shafer and his Tumbleweed Houses as well as Dee Williams. Since that time Pino and THT have brought to life the stories of so many incredible people; builders and dwellers alike. What started as a simple newsletter in 2009 has turned into a major player in the world of tiny houses!

To round out our week of amazing give-aways Alex and Tiny House Talk are putting up for grabs a copy of Jay Shafer’s Tumbleweed DIY Book of Backyard Sheds & Tiny Houses. The book retails for $19.95 and includes in its 144 pages, 6 unique Box Bungalow designs. Each design includes a floor plan, four elevation drawings and a window schedule. In addition the book offers 68 pages of instruction with pictures to guide you through the building process. In it you’ll learn how to:

Clear the building site

Build a foundation

Post and beam construction

Building and raising walls

Putting up a sloping roof with rafters

How to make a gable for your roof

Installing windows, and doors

Only one winner will be chosen but you can enter as many as 4 times by doing each of the following:

Comment on this post by putting a note of thanks to Kent and his blog as well as Alex and his blog

SHARE this blog post on your Facebook profile page

Tweet this post link and include the hashtag #THAW2012

Comment on the Facebook status update regarding this blog post

The winner will be chosen at 9pm EST tonight (via random.org) so hurry up and start socializing our digital thank you’s.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Kath Phelps. Kath is our winner on this, our last day of #THAW2012! She is going to receive the quintessential tiny house book, Tumbleweed DIY Book of Backyard Sheds & Tiny Houses!

And Kent deserves a big thank you for broadening my own horizons on whats tiny in this world more than anyone else. If there’s an aspect to it, Kent’s covered it and if you have an idea that you think is new, chances are Kent’s covered that too. Thanks for an awesome resource Kent.